Kuhokini Kotha (Talks of an Enchantress) by Mitul Dutta

“The mirror she stood in front for a while was in fact her face. The day had past before she realised that. Blue, an unblemished tint of blue. What is that on her forehead? A bullet? Or could it be a hornet? Ugh! The hornet’s leg bleeds. Drenching her eyelids, out and out. O this phrase: “out-and-out”! Crap! Titillating without a cause. Since long. A blue hand, looming large with countless rings. A yellow river, with dried-up blood flowing. Since long. All this is what she is. A mirror. But the mirror never accepted her. Every time she looked to see a face there, it threw back an army of moles and freckles and blotches at her. And the unbearable sunburn!... She does not know where she would flee from all this. Her whole world has turned into a house of mirrors. All eyes, of her dear ones, as if but pretexts through which she could view herself. As if an all-pervading sacrificial rite. And inside her breast is musing some favorite radio song of your ‘I shall not watch my face in the mirror, no no no I shan’t…I will become as imaginary as love to myself’…”
The narrative of Kuhokini Kotha originates from Mitul Dutta’s autobiographical novel Pargacha – which narrates a journey of a girl – ‘phute otha aar jhore jaoyar majhkhane phul-tar porikroma’ (a journey in between a blossoming and a shedding off)…‘phute otha aar jhore jaoyar apato-modhur, apato-bishonno golpo’ (the apparently pleasant, apparently melancholic narrative of the journey). How many miles need this girl travel before she turns an enchantress? “How many ethereal connections of dream-reality must she negotiate? Is her fate ought to be love or spite, sexual pressure or repression-filled dreams?” One day, whilst she encounters her own self before the mirror, the narrative begins.
Though (through the characters of Srijon and Swagota) Mitul Dutta represents a certain section of this society, Kuhokini Kotha is not targeted towards the entire mass, more precisely every individual. “seisob pagol, matal, kobi, uronchondi, aar premik-der jonno amar ‘Kuhokini Kotha’”, who survive only for poetry-music-still and motion picture-theatre, “jara bhalobese bhese jete pare muhurte..aar porer muhurtei ghure daray abar…bari fire achre pore bichana-e..jader beche thakar golpo bichana jane, balish jane, jane kolghorer deyal-e lepte thaka joler daag-gulo”, declared her Facebook status post-performance.

Debasish Ghoshdastidar (the director) attempts a pictographic representation of the narrative. “The narrative incorporates several flashbacks, so I’ve solely exploited the colours black and white. Silence, lights and shadows have been utilized to an extreme extent as a language for expression”, said Debasish Ghoshdastidar in a telephonic conversation. The portrayal of the police inspector (courtesy: Tarashankar Chakraborty for voiceover and Tanmoy Ghosh for shadowgraphy) needs an obvious mention. His presence is being superbly portrayed exploiting the concept of shadowgraphy and the mannerism in his dialogues while encountering the narrator has left countless enthralled.

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